Less than 100 guns could be to blame for the Island's shootings, which are not expected to end any time soon, according to a senior police officer.

With many of this year's shootings taking place in Pembroke and Devonshire Chief Inspector Othneal Haynes has his work cut out for him.

He leads a team of 70 officers who patrol and engage people and businesses in Bermuda's central parishes where gangs such as 42 and Parkside — responsible for the ongoing retaliatory shootings — came from.

Over the last two years he and his team have focused on community policing. There are regular patrol officers on Court Street all day and teams of officers visit the various schools in the parishes as well as getting to know neighbourhoods [see separate story].

Chf Insp Haynes said the community policing has helped them getting a better handle of the current climate.

Since May 2009, 11 people have been shot dead and 32 others have been injured by gunfire. Nobody has been shot since October 5 when Jeremiah Dill was hit on Parsons Road.

But Chf Insp Haynes said he does not believe Bermuda has seen the end of it.

"The assessment, the feeling in the street, is that while there may be lulls there is a tendency that these will continue until they get it out of their system. Bear in mind that these shootings are gang-on-gang retaliation.

"It is back and forth. It is sad to see, but I don't think we have seen the end of it.

"This is winter time, things are cold, weather might slow things down but I don't think we have seen the end of it. The mere fact that almost every other day guns are seen or shot means it will continue for a while."

As for how many guns were on the streets he said an exact figure was not known.

"I can't say for sure, we estimate it is not a lot of them," he said. "One hundred probably a bit of an extreme, I would say there are less than 100, but that is just my opinion we do not have statistics to back it up on how many guns are on the Island.

"Information suggests there is a certain amount but not a larger amount of 200 or 300. Perhaps those that are here are being lent out, passed around, rented but there are enough there to cause concern to Bermuda public and police officers."

With a strong focus on community policing Chf Insp Haynes said his team has already seen some changes within the last 12 months, including locking up three prolific burglars and an increase in neighbours working with police.

"In 2009 there was a still a 'them' and 'us' concept in that the police were still seen as the enemy who came but then left they never embraced us.

"People would refuse to talk to you or on a limited basis. As the shootings continued, and the community got more and more frustrated and Minister Burch kept saying you need to talk to police, there has been a change to a certain extent.

"Now we go to the areas they are more willing to talk to us. They are willing to give information because they are so frustrated. You are seeing that more are going to court because people are willing to speak to us."

His CID officers are responsible for locking up three prolific priority thieves. A marked drop in break-ins in the central parishes was a direct result of these arrests and convictions he said.

As for the future he told The Royal Gazette he hopes the community will continue to come on board, and more officers would not go amiss.

"I am of the opinion that the community can police the community, if there is someone hanging out in your area get everyone in the area to challenge them and get them to move on," he said. "It takes sustainability, it cannot happen in a one off.

And while he said policing levels are a political issue for the Governor and politicians to work out, he said: "If you were to give me an increase of officers in my division I would have a lot of work for them to do. I can put them to work easily and it would help me a lot."